Alexander McQueen

“Fashion should be a form of escapism, and not a form of imprisonment.”

“You’ve got to know the rules to break them. That’s what I’m here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition.”

“I don't want to do a cocktail party. I'd rather people left my shows and vomited.”

“I think there is beauty in everything. What 'normal' people would perceive as ugly, I can usually see something of beauty in it.”

“It's a new era in fashion - there are no rules. It's all about the individual and personal style, wearing high-end, low-end, classic labels, and up-and-coming designers all together.”

“I find beauty in the grotesque, like most artists.”

“British fashion is self confident and fearless. It refuses to bow to commerce, which can sometimes be its downfall.”

“I get my ideas out of my dreams.”

“I like to think of myself as a plastic surgeon with a knife.”

“The world needs fantasy, not reality. We have enough reality today.”

“Give me time and I'll give you a revolution.”

“I want to be the purveyor of a certain silhouette or a way of cutting, so that when I'm dead and gone, people will know that the twenty-first century was started by Alexander McQueen.”

“I want people to be afraid of the women I dress.”

“My shows are about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. It's the excitement and the goosebumps. I want heart attacks. I want ambulances.”

“I'm a romantic schizophrenic.”

“For me, what I do is an artistic expression which is channeled through me. Fashion is just the medium.”

“Of course I make mistakes. I'm human. If I didn't make mistakes, I'd never learn. You can only go forward by making mistakes.”

“I design clothes because I don't want women to look all innocent and naive.”

“Men and women should be sexy and powerful. Everybody should be a star.”

“There is no better designer than nature.”